Departmental Pay

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many full-time staff employed by  (a) his Department in London,  (b) Historic Royal Palaces and  (c) the National Gallery earn less than £15,944 per annum.

Gerry Sutcliffe: There are no full-time staff employed in DCMS who earn less than £15,944 per annum. We do not hold records centrally about pay for staff in the historic royal palaces or the National Gallery.

Bluetongue Disease: Disease Control

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what mechanisms are in place to  (a) prevent and  (b) monitor the import and spread of bluetongue disease in summer 2009.

Jane Kennedy: The information requested is as follows:
	 (a) As of 3 November 2008, all of Great Britain became a single confluent protection zone for Bluetongue serotype 8 (BTV-8). Animals can be moved freely within this protection zone, and to and from other BTV-8 protection zones in Europe provided that they meet the generic import/export requirements and are accompanied by an Export Health Certificate which has been signed by an official veterinarian.
	Movements of susceptible animals from Protection Zones for different serotypes are subject to the restrictions set out in Annex III of the Commission Regulation (EC) No 1266/2007 (as amended).
	 (b) DEFRA has a number of scanning and targeted surveillance measures in place to monitor Bluetongue in the UK as detailed in the UK-wide Bluetongue Control Strategy.
	With specific regard to imports, DEFRA conducts post-import tests on all susceptible animals imported from continental Europe, for all Bluetongue serotypes. From 1 April 2009, this was increased to double testing to ensure that disease is picked up in both its early and late stages. DEFRA also urges industry to consider the risks and check the health and vaccination status of animals when sourcing any animals, from within the UK or abroad.
	Spread of BTV-8 is additionally controlled through the use of vaccine. DEFRA underwrote 28 million doses of BTV-8 vaccine in 2008, enough for all susceptible animals in England. 12 million of these doses formed the supply at the start of 2009. This along with free market vaccine supplies from the three manufacturers authorised to market vaccine in the UK, Intervet, Merial and Fort Dodge should meet the demand for BTV-8 vaccine in 2009.

Departmental ICT

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department has taken to address the effect on levels of carbon dioxide emissions from his Department of its ICT purchases since the publication of the Greening Government ICT Strategy; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: Since the publication of the Greening Government Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Strategy, the Department has commissioned a Green ICT Feasibility Study by IBM to establish a Roadmap for the core Department and its Executive Agencies to not only meet the 2012 target for carbon neutrality for ICT in use across its estate, but also to include its out-sourced IT estate; primarily the appropriate portions of two large IBM data centres that support the provision of our IT services.
	For core DEFRA and those agencies taking all their IT services from IBM (some 4,500 staff), IBM currently uses a catalogue of assets that conform with the Quick Wins criteria set out in the Government's Green IT strategy for laptops, desktops and monitors. 96 per cent. of the current deployed IBM desktop and laptop assets are compliant with the Quick Wins criteria.
	10 months after the launch of the Greening Government ICT Strategy DEFRA has already delivered eight of the original 18 Chief Information Officer top tips set out in the HMG Greening ICT Strategy and submitted an initial draft Roadmap for addressing the remaining 10 tips, based on interim findings from the Feasibility Study. The top tips and Strategy can be viewed at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/cio/greening_government_ict.aspx

Building Regulations

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of likely levels of compliance with the requirements of  (a) part L and  (b) part F of the Building Regulations following their revision.

Iain Wright: The Department is presently engaged in a joint project with the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes (EEPfH) looking at levels of compliance for new homes with the requirements of Part L (2006) of the Building Regulations. The first part of this study has been published on the EEPfH website at:
	http://www.eeph.org.uk/uploads/documents/partnership/EEPH-CLG%20Part%20L%20Compliance%20Project%20-%20Phase%202%20Main%20Report.pdf
	The second part of the study will be published shortly.
	The Department is also currently evaluating Part F to help inform its proposed revision alongside Part L in 2010.

Building Regulations

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of building control officers with the function of overseeing implementation of the Building Regulations.

Iain Wright: All local authority building control officers in England and Wales are responsible for the implementation and enforcement of the building regulations in their respective authorities. All approved inspectors are responsible for the implementation of the building regulations in England and Wales, but approved inspectors have no enforcement responsibilities.
	A recent independent survey report commissioned by this Department from the Building Control Alliance (BCA) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) covering building control officers in England and Wales, found that in 2006-07 in the 201 local authorities that sent in a return there was a total of 2,609 employees and in the 22 approved inspector Building Control bodies that sent in a return there was a total of 1,812 employees. A full copy of the survey report can be found at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/surveybuildingcontrolrpt

Community Relations: Religion

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans her Department has to mark Inter Faith Week; and if she will make a statement.

Sadiq Khan: The Department announced on 24 March that inter faith week will take place from 15 to 21 November across England and possibly Wales. It was proposed to Government by the Inter Faith Network for the UK (the member bodies of which include the Churches and other major faith communities) in 2008 as part of the consultation for the Government's inter faith strategy "Face to Face and Side by Side: A Framework for Partnership in our Multi Faith Society."
	We are keen to see local faith groups and communities around the country reaching out to each other to build stronger bonds of understanding and co-operation. Places of worship, inter faith bodies, schools and colleges, local authorities and other public agencies will be holding their own local events. Activities will also aim to increase public awareness of the various faith communities of the UK, focusing on the contribution which their members make to their neighbourhoods and wider society. Local, regional and national inter faith initiatives will be able to raise their profile. We hope the week will also increase understanding between people of religious and non-religious beliefs.
	The Department is facilitating the week in partnership with the Inter Faith Network and in consultation with the Department for Children, Schools and Families, the Local Government Association and the Equality and Human Rights Commission. We are liaising with the relevant public agencies, helping facilitate publicity and developing written materials. We will also organise a launch event in the preceding week.

Council Housing: Rents

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield of 25 March 2009,  Official Report, column 470W, on council housing: rents, if she will place in the Library a copy of the consultation document.

Iain Wright: A copy of the final housing revenue account subsidy Amending Determination for 2009-10 will be placed in the Library of the House when it is issued. We aim to issue this document soon.

Empty Property

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps her Department is taking to assist local authorities in returning derelict residential properties to occupancy.

Iain Wright: We work closely with the independent Empty Homes Agency to encourage local authorities to tackle empty homes in their areas. Through the Housing Act 2004, we have introduced new powers to allow local authorities to take over the management of private sector empty homes (empty dwelling management orders) where a voluntary approach is not successful. We are supporting the Empty Homes Agency's new guidance on EDMOs, which was launched on 10 March. The guidance is internet-based and interactive and takes local authorities through the EDMO process step by step. My right hon. Friend, the Minister for Housing (Margaret Beckett) provided a foreword for the guidance.
	I hosted an Empty Homes seminar for a number of local authorities on 23 April to provide an opportunity to discuss the obstacles facing authorities in dealing with empty homes, share examples of best practice and encourage them to take action to tackle empty homes in their area.

Housing: Merseyside

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many of the new houses completed in  (a) Merseyside and  (b) Crosby constituency between 2003 and 2009 were vacant at the latest date for which figures are available.

Iain Wright: The information requested is not held centrally.
	The council tax base and council taxbase supplementary (CTB1 and CTB1S) return, reported by local authorities to CLG, includes the total number of long-term and short term vacancies in a local authority area.
	The table gives the total number of vacant dwellings in Merseyside and its local authorities at 6 October 2008, the latest date for which figures are available. The number of vacant dwellings is not available at constituency level.
	
		
			  County/local authority  Number of long-term empty dwellings (empty for more than six months)  Total number of empty dwellings 
			 Merseyside 16,011 23,811 
			 Knowsley 1,499 2,615 
			 Liverpool 7,571 8,761 
			 Sefton 2,650 3,561 
			 St. Helens 1,079 2,592 
			 Wirral 3,212 6,282 
			  Source: Council Taxbase and Council Taxbase Supplementary (CTB1 and CTB1S) returns from local authorities. 
		
	
	Those dwellings vacant for less than six months are more likely to be empty for a short period following a sale before the new owner occupies it, where the property needs work to be carried out before it can be occupied, or where the property is in probate and are seen as 'transactional' vacant dwellings and are thus a characteristic of the housing market.
	It is therefore sometimes more appropriate to look at long term vacancies rather than the total number of vacant dwellings.

Housing: Planning Permission

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department has provided to planning authorities on the definition of the term eaves used in the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted) Development Order 1995, as amended.

Iain Wright: The Government have not provided a definition of eaves in the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted) Development Order, 1995, nor has it issued guidance on a definition to local planning authorities. Interpretation of the order is a matter for local authorities and ultimately a matter for the courts.

Housing: Sales

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of first-time buyers purchased a home at a price under £250,000 in the last year for which figures are available.

Iain Wright: The Department holds data on completed mortgages used for house purchase via the Regulated Mortgage Survey (RMS) which is supplied by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. The RMS covers about 60 per cent. of the UK mortgage market and includes details on whether the buyer was a first time buyer and the purchase price of the property.
	Using the RMS we estimate that 89 per cent. of first time buyers buying with a mortgage purchased their property for under £250,000 in the UK in 2008. Using Council of Mortgage Lenders data on total numbers of first time buyers buying with a mortgage in the UK for 2008 we estimate that this amounts to around 172,800 first time buyers.

Local Government Services: Fees and Charges

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what powers local authorities have to charge for building control services in relation to small household extensions.

Iain Wright: Local authorities are authorised by 'The Building (Local Authority Charges) Regulations 1998' to fix their own charges in a scheme for carrying out their main building control functions with the aim of fully recovering their costs. The charges for building work related to small household extensions should be fixed with reference to the floor area of the proposed extension.
	The Department is currently carrying out a consultation exercise seeking views on a number of proposed changes to the charging regime. The consultation paper can be found on our website at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/lachargingregimeconsult

Property Development

Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department has provided to local authorities on whether under the terms of the General Permitted Development Order the measurement of the extended part of the dwelling house beyond the original dwelling house is taken from wall to wall or roof to roof.

Iain Wright: The Government have not specified in the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted) Development Order, 1995, as amended, whether the measurement of the extended part of the dwelling house beyond the original dwelling house should be taken from wall-to-wall or roof-to-roof. Nor has it issued guidance on this issue to local planning authorities. Interpretation of the order is a matter for local authorities and ultimately for the courts.

Borders: Personal Records

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the oral answer of 23 March 2009,  Official Report, column 16 and to the answer of 29 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1349W, borders: personal records where the information referred to in the answer is located on her Department's website; what categories of information on travellers and passengers will be collected for the purposes of the e-borders programme when the programme is fully operational; and whether the 10-year storing of information applies to all of these categories.

Phil Woolas: Information on e-Borders can be found on the UK Border Agency website at the following web address
	www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/advance-passenger-information
	e-Borders will collect Travel Document Information (TDI) on all journeys to and from the United Kingdom. These data consist of the eight sections of biographical data which are contained in the machine readable zone (MRZ) of a passport, being; name, date of birth, nationality, gender, travel document type, state of issue, number and expiry date.
	Carriers may be asked to provide reservation data (known as OPI or other passenger information if this information has been collected in the normal course of their business. This information could include but is not limited to, date and place of reservation and ticket issue, method of payment and baggage details.

Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what procedures are in place for the regulation of forensic practitioners after the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners ceases to operate and before a successor organisation is appointed; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  whether she received representations from the Forensic Science Regulator prior to the decision not to provide transition funding to the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  what recent estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners; and if she will make a statement;
	(4)  what mechanisms are in place to ensure the continuity of regulation of individual forensic practitioners following the closure of the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners; and if she will make a statement.;
	(5)  on what date it was decided to cease funding the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners; and if she will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The Independent Forensic Science Regulator was appointed in February 2008 to regulate forensic science quality standards. He has published his "Review of the Options for the Accreditation of Forensic Practitioners" and "Quality Standards for the Providers of Forensic Science Services to the Criminal Justice System" and proposes to move to a more robust model of standards regulation that moves the focus from just forensic practitioners to include standards for organisations, practitioners and the science methods used. The forensic science laboratories are already accredited to testing international standards; accreditation that includes assessment of practitioner competence by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). The accreditation option is available to all practitioners. Registration with the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners was a voluntary process that left the majority of practitioners either choosing not to register or not able to register (front-line scientists in the laboratories who are covered by the UKAS accreditation could not register with the Council).
	The Regulator was consulted prior to the decision not to provide transition funding. The Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners received in total some £2.9 million grant in aid with a clear requirement to be self-financing by March 2010. Police withdrawal of support removed up to 70 per cent. of the Council's income.
	The chief executive of the National Policing Improvement Agency wrote to the council on 4 February 2009 notifying his intention to cease any further funding. This was confirmed to the Council in a letter from my hon. Friend the Member for Tynemouth (Mr. Campbell) dated 27 February 2009 following a meeting with the chair and the chief executive of the council.

Departmental Computers

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for East Surrey of 3 November 2008,  Official Report, column 29W, on departmental computers, whether her Department's system for the automatic switching off of all Departmental desktop devices overnight has been introduced.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office has a project in progress to implement automatic switching off of computers after hours. This project has not yet reached the stage where the computers power down automatically.

Departmental Data Protection

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland of 20 April 2009,  Official Report, column 161W, on data protection, which of her Department's agencies plans to appoint a board level senior information risk owner; whether any salary increase is associated with the position; and what the responsibilities of each post holder will be.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office and its agencies have appointed at board level senior information risk owners to manage information risk. These roles are part of the remit and responsibilities of existing members of the board and do not attract any additional remuneration.
	The responsibilities of senior information risk owners are as follows:
	To provide an annual report of the assessment of information risk;
	To lead and foster a culture that values, protects and uses information for the public good;
	Own the overall information risk policy and risk assessment process, test its outcome, and ensure it is used; and
	Advise the accounting officer on the information risk aspects of his statement on internal control.

Drugs: Crime

Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of roadside drug testing kits as an alternative to current testing methods.

Alan Campbell: We are satisfied on the basis of independent advice that existing drug screening devices are not suitable to assist in the enforcement of drug driving offences

Essex Police Authority: Legislation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what legislation regulates Essex Police Authority; what amendments have been made to such legislation since its entry into force; what recent representations she has received on the operation of this legislation; which  (a) statutory instruments,  (b) departmental circulars and  (c) other documents she (i) has issued since July 2008 and (ii) plans to issue in the next 12 months consequent on the provisions of this legislation; and if she will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: Essex police authority, like all police authorities, is regulated by the Police and Justice Act 1996. There have been no changes to statutory instruments, or new ones issued, under this Act since my right hon. Friend, the former Minister for Policing, Crime and Security (Mr. McNulty) replied to the hon. Member's question on 22 July 2008,  Official Report, column 1348W, and I have not received any recent representations on any legislation. In relation to future changes, Home Office officials are currently reviewing the entire regulatory framework with the Association of Police Authorities. While I expect there will be some changes, the review is at too early a stage to say what those changes would be.

United Kingdom Human Trafficking Centre

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how her Department  (a) monitors and  (b) evaluates the work and performance of the UK Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC); when the UKHTC plans to publish its first annual report; and if she will place a copy of that report in the Library on publication.

Alan Campbell: Oversight of all work on human trafficking is carried out by the Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group of which I am Chair.
	Monitoring and evaluation of the UK Human Trafficking Centre's work is carried out by the Oversight and Advisory Board, chaired by CC Graeme Maxwell, the ACPO lead on Organised Immigration Crime and on which the Home Office is represented.
	The UKHTC plans to publish its annual report in the near future, a copy of which will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Voluntary Organisations

Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what his most recent estimate is of the number of third sector organisations; and how much funding from the public purse has been allocated to such organisations in each of the last five years.

Kevin Brennan: There is no single source for the number of third sector organisations; however latest figures from the NCVO's UK Civil Society Almanac 2009 report that in 2006-07 there were 170,900 general charities and an estimated 600,000 informal community organisations in the UK. Based on figures from the 2005-06 Annual Survey of Small Businesses by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform we estimate there to be at least 55,000 social enterprises in England.
	The amount of public funding received by general charities (from both central and local government sources) is estimated in the NCVO's UK Civil Society Almanac 2009 as follows:
	
		
			   £ billion 
			 2003-04 9.7 
			 2004-05 9.9 
			 2005-06 11.5 
			 2006-07 12.0 
			 2007-08 (1)— 
			 (1) Data not available as yet 
		
	
	Figures on the allocation of funding to third sector organisations are currently available for central Government expenditure up to 2005-06, and are estimated, as follows:
	
		
			   £ billion 
			 2003-04 5.0 
			 2004-05 5.0 
			 2005-06 5.4 
		
	
	Estimates of local government expenditure on the third sector are not available for each of the past five years.

Terrorism: Compensation

Ian McCartney: To ask the Minister for the Olympics pursuant to the contribution of 24 March 2009,  Official Report, column 175, on international terrorism, who the lead Minister is for the consideration of a compensation scheme for UK citizens harmed in terrorist attacks overseas; what the terms of reference for that consultation are; and if she will make a statement.

Jack Straw: I have been asked to reply.
	My right hon. Friend the Minister for the Olympics (Tessa Jowell) has responsibility for Humanitarian Assistance, and represents the interests of UK nationals affected by terrorism overseas.
	Officials from across Government have recently formed a working group to scope what more can be done in the future to support victims of terrorism abroad. The group will consider a range of detailed options for doing so and report to Ministers.

Departmental ICT

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to the answer to the hon. member for Fareham of 25 November 2008,  Official Report, column 1463W, on departmental ICT, 
	(1)  in what format the register which is to be replaced by the North Sea Licensing ICT project is held;
	(2)  how many staff in  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies work on the (i) North Sea Licensing, (ii) Electricity Portal for electricity consents and (iii) Environmental emissions monitoring database ICT projects;
	(3)  on what date the  (a) North Sea Licensing,  (b) Electricity Portal for electricity consents and  (c) Environmental emissions monitoring database ICT projects were commissioned;
	(4)  what the total monetary value is of the contracts to deliver the  (a) North Sea Licensing,  (b) Electricity Portal for electricity consents and  (c) Environmental emissions monitoring database ICT projects;
	(5)  with which companies the Government has contracts to deliver the  (a) North Sea Licensing,  (b) Electricity Portal for electricity consents and  (c) Environmental emissions monitoring database ICT projects.

Mike O'Brien: All of the IT projects and contracts referred to are managed by DECC. The current register is stored in an Oracle database using a bespoke format developed by the Department. The new register will still use an Oracle database but will utilise the emerging internet Extendable Mark Up language XML. The Department has been leading an exercise among regulatory bodies across the world to develop a common format for licensing and concessions data.
	IT functions were outsourced some years ago and internal effort is now focused on project management and interface with user groups and industry. This means that the Department uses shared resources to manage these projects. Staff resources used, which are not full-time, are as follows:  (a) North Sea Licensing—three staff,  (b) Electricity Portal for electricity consents—three staff,  (c) Environmental emissions monitoring database—three staff.
	The dates the projects were commissioned are as follows:  (a) North Sea Licensing—2008,  (b) Electricity Portal—2006,  (c) Environmental emissions database—2005.
	All of these projects are multiple year projects with targets and break points. Updated cost estimates for the systems development are as follows:
	North Sea Licensing—£331,000—Costs rose slightly above original estimates to incorporate an extra application (requested by the oil industry) to support electronic licence round applications.
	Electricity Portal—£900,000—The first phase of the Electricity Portal was well received by the electricity industry and, in line with the initial vision, three additional applications have been added (the total cost estimate is therefore now higher than that quoted in the answer to the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) of 25 November 2008).
	Environmental emissions database—£220,000.
	Companies with contracts to deliver these projects are as follows:  (a) North Sea Licensing—Fivium,  (b) Electricity Portal—Informed Solutions  (c) Environmental emissions database—Collabro.

Knowledge Network Project

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Horsham of 26 January 2009,  Official Report, column 136W, on the knowledge network project, what procedures exist to enable civil servants to access the manuals and guidance on how to use the Knowledge Network.

Angela Eagle: There is no single specific guidance document on using the Knowledge Network. Guidance notes and manuals may be produced by individual departments. Buying Solutions is unable to comment on how such manuals and guides are accessed by staff.

Members: Correspondence

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Northavon of 18 February 2009 on behalf of Mr Drew of Coalpit Heath, acknowledged by his Department with the reference: 1/67589/2009.

Ian Pearson: I have replied to the hon. Member.

Members: Correspondence

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letter of 24 March 2009 from the hon. Member for Woking on his constituent Mr P. Burdett.

Ian Pearson: A reply has been sent to the hon. Member.

Parliamentary Questions: Government Responses

Peter Luff: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to answer Question 259158, tabled by the hon. Member for Mid Worcestershire on 23 February 2009 on the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme; and what the reasons for the time taken to respond are.

Ian Pearson: The hon. Member's question (259158) was transferred to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on 26 February. I replied in my capacity as Economics and Business Minister on 7 May 2009,  Official Report, column 417W.

Public Expenditure: Coventry

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of the 2009 Budget on  (a) young people and  (b) families resident in Coventry.

Stephen Timms: The Government's aim are that no young person should be permanently disadvantaged by the recession and that all young people are given the support needed to make or maintain a connection to the labour market. Budget 2009 announced that every young person between 18 and 24 will be guaranteed a job, work placement or work-related skill training for at least six months after claiming jobseeker's allowance for 12 months.
	Budget 2009 announced an additional investment of £251 million in 2009-10 for the education and training of 16 and 17-year-olds. This will provide an extra 54,500 student places in the next academic year, ensuring that every young person has the opportunity to obtain the skills they will need to succeed.
	Young people in work will also receive additional support from an increase in the personal allowance from April 2009, worth £26 to a basic rate taxpayer. The Government are also supporting young people looking to enter the housing market for the first time. Since September 2008, the Government have launched homebuy direct, helping first-time buyers get on the property ladder, committed to bring forward spending to deliver new social housing, and announced an extension of the stamp duty land tax holiday for properties under £175,000 to the end of 2009.
	Information on the impact of Budget 2009 on specific regions can be found on the Treasury's website at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/Budget2009/bud09_pn_ westmidlands_26.pdf

Stamp Duty Land Tax: Tamworth

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many residents of Tamworth constituency have paid less stamp duty land tax from the stamp duty land tax holiday since it began.

Ian Pearson: Data on property transactions up to 2007—the most recent year for which figures are published—can be found at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/survey_of_prop/index.htm
	This data includes property transactions by type of property and price as well as the number and value of property transactions broken down by parliamentary constituency. Information on property transactions in Tamworth parliamentary constituency is included in the published parliamentary constituency tables.

Taxation

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much is owed by businesses in  (a) Staffordshire and  (b) the UK in respect of schemes to defer payment of liability for (i) pay as you earn, (ii) value added tax and (iii) corporation tax to mitigate the effects of the economic downturn.

Stephen Timms: On 24 November 2008, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that HMRC had launched a new Business Payment Support Service (BPSS) to allow viable businesses in temporary financial difficulty time to pay their tax bills to a timetable they could afford.
	In the period up to 3 May 2009, the total value of time to pay agreed under the BPSS scheme for the United Kingdom amounted to over £2.2 billion of which approximately £320 million was for PAYE, £930 million for VAT and £380 million for corporation tax , helping over 100,000 businesses.
	The total value of time to pay agreed under the scheme for Staffordshire in the same period was £28 million. HMRC is unable to disaggregate this figure further without incurring disproportionate cost.

Brazil: Politics and Government

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has made representations to the Brazilian government on public security in shanty towns in Brazil and the effects of lack of security on  (a) children and  (b) other residents.

Gillian Merron: The Government have been funding activities by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) specializing in security sector reform in "favelas" or shanty towns. As part of this, they have worked with police to train them in community policing methods and with educational institutions for children.
	My noble Friend the then Leader of the House of Lords (Baroness Amos) and my hon. Friend the then Minister for Latin America (Dr. Howells) visited favelas during their visits to Brazil in 2006 and 2007 respectively. They discussed conditions, including security, with the local government, local communities and NGOs.
	We also work with other EU embassies on a regular dialogue with Brazil on the full range of human rights issues and will have the opportunity to feed in views at the 8 June 2009 EU-Brazil Human Rights dialogue.

Middle East: Peacekeeping Operations

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what involvement UK officials have in the US strategic review of defence and security policy in the greater Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: The UK was asked to contribute to the review of American defence and security policy conducted during 2008. A team with a wide range of thematic and geographic experience drawn from Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development, and the Ministry of Defence participated in the review.
	As the review has now been completed, the UK personnel have returned to other duties. However, we retain a number of UK personnel seconded to US Government Departments, including on the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Crown Dependencies: Armed Forces

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many troops from Crown Dependencies are serving in Afghanistan.

John Hutton: I have been asked to reply.
	Data on the number of troops from British Crown Dependencies serving in Afghanistan is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Air Travel

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many officials from his Department of each  (a) grade and  (b) directorate have flown by British Airways on official business in each of the last five years; what the (i) destination and (ii) cost of the ticket was in each case; what his policy is on the use of British Airways by his Department's staff; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: The number and cost of flights with British Airways made by officials in the Ministry on official business in the financial years 2007-08 and 2008-09 was as follows
	
		
			   Number of flights  Cost (£) 
			 2007-08 790 295,628 
			 2008-09 804 273,064 
		
	
	Details of the destination and costs of individual flights, including refunds have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
	The information provided is taken from the Ministry's procurement system and reflects flights booked through the Ministry's travel management company, the use of which is mandated in all but exceptional circumstances. The figures exclude any flights with British Airways where, exceptionally, members of staff have booked their own flights and been reimbursed via an expense claim. The information provided from procurement records is likely to represent approximately 95 per cent. of all flights.
	The information provided also identifies whether flights relate to those parts of the Ministry of Justice that used to be in the Department for Constitutional Affairs (ex-DCA) or to the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). Further breakdown to Directorate level is available only at disproportionate cost. The grade of each official flying with British Airways could also be determined only at disproportionate cost. The Ministry's procurement system has recorded costs incurred with travel carriers on a central basis only since the commencement of the current travel management contract in January 2007. Information prior to that date is held locally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The Ministry's policy is that air travel should only be used where there is a cost advantage from savings of subsistence and official time or if urgency justifies the additional cost. Staff are expected to travel economy class on flights up to 2.5 hours. On flights in excess of 2.5 hours staff at senior civil level (directors) and above may travel business class and other staff economy class. Where it is necessary to fly both outward and inward flights in one day or the flight lasts longer than four hours, budget holders have discretion to authorise a higher class of travel.
	The Ministry does not have a specific policy on the use of British Airways. The travel management company engaged by the Ministry is required to identify the most cost effective means of supplying the requested journey, taking account of the timing of flights and the cost of official time. The cost-effectiveness of flights supplied is actively monitored to ensure that value for money is obtained.

Electoral Register: Standards

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what discussions he has had with the Electoral Commission on underperforming electoral registration departments, as referred to in the Electoral Commission's recent report, Performance Standards for electoral registration officers in Great Britain; and if he will make it his policy directly to inform each hon. Member representing a constituency in an underperforming local authority area that their local authority is underperforming.

Michael Wills: On 22 April 2009 the Electoral Commission published its first set of results in respect of its performance standards regime for Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in Great Britain.
	Each ERO self assessed themselves against the 10 standards grouped into four broad subject areas:
	Completeness and accuracy of electoral registration records
	integrity of the registration process
	encouraging participation I the registration process and
	planning and organisation.
	The aim of the performance standards is to identify best practice by those EROs meeting or exceeding the standards and to allow steps to be taken to improve the performance of those who have not meet the standards. We want all EROs to perform at the level of the best.
	I intend to discuss the result of performance standards for EROs when I next meet with the Commission. I do not intend to make it my policy to inform each hon. Member representing a constituency in an underperforming local authority area that their local authority is underperforming. It is the Electoral Commission's role under the performance standards regime to monitor and analyse the performance of EROs and we do no wish to duplicate that.
	I understand that the Electoral Commission has published comprehensive detailed information about the 2008 assessment of performance by each ERO in Great Britain against the performance standards on its website. I would urge all Members to take the time to examine the results for their respective areas.

Land Registry

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to box 3.E of the final report of the Operational Efficiency programme, by what means the Land Registry will develop opportunities for the provision of wider commercial services and products.

Michael Wills: Land Registry currently provide add value products and services under the following headings; consultancy services, data services, electronic and online services and register services.
	Land Registry is embarking upon the implementation of an organisational strategy under the heading of 'Customer Engagement Management'. Central to this strategy will be the implementation of an internal framework to bring together people process and systems capable of identifying, developing and delivery appropriate products and services that meet current and future customer needs through gaining increased customer knowledge.
	Land Registry will proactively use this approach to identify opportunities that deliver added value products and services to their customers; this will further harness the power of customer knowledge to align Land Registry's core business around the changing needs of its customers.

Legal Profession: Honours

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which members of legal firms who have acted for those bringing cases against the Government in the European Court of Human Rights since May 1997 have received an honour.

Michael Wills: The Government do not keep a central record of which legal firms have acted for applicants in cases against the United Kingdom at the European Court of Human Rights. Where an application has resulted in an admissibility decision or judgment by the Court, these are available publicly on the Court's website at:
	http://www.echr.coe.int
	the applicant's representatives may be named in the decision or judgment. The names of individuals who have received honours are published in the London Gazette.

Pakistan: Overseas Aid

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which  (a) programmes and  (b) projects his Department supports in (i) the North West Frontier Province and (ii) the Federally Administered Tribal areas in Pakistan; and how much his Department gave to each 2008-09.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) supported the following programmes and projects targeted directly in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in Pakistan during 2008-09:
	
		
			  Programme  Expenditure during  2008-09( 1)  ( £ ) 
			 NWFP Education Programme 13,600,000 
			 NWFP Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project 1,069,989 
			 NWFP Provincial Reforms Programme 1,590,058 
			 FATA Secretariat Capacity Building Programme 280,598 
			 Earthquake Rehabilitation Programme(2) 3,584,267 
			 Humanitarian Support Programme(3) 2,000,000 
			 Total 22,124,912 
			 (1) Provisional (2 )Programme shared equally between NWFP and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Only the NWFP component is shown here. (3) Covers both NWFP and FA TA. 
		
	
	In addition, in 2008-09, DFID supported the following nationwide programmes which helped provide services in NWFP and FATA as well as in other parts of Pakistan:
	
		
			  Programme  Expenditure during  2008-0 9( 1)  ( £ ) 
			 Poverty Reduction Budget Support 30,000,000 
			 National Health and Population Facility 15,004,579 
			 Polio Eradication Initiative 5,000,000 
			 Maternal and Newborn Health Programme 10,894,027 
			 Achieving Universal Access to Control HIV/AIDS 3,547,882 
			 Rural Support Programmes Network 1,746,881 
			 Financial Inclusion Programme 10,011,940 
			 Voluntary Repatriation of Afghan Refugees 1,000,000 
			 Total 77,205,309 
			 (1) Estimated.

Sri Lanka: Overseas Aid

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what recent discussions he has had with representatives of international aid agencies on the provision of humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with the Sri Lankan Government on the provision of humanitarian aid to that country;
	(3)  what recent discussions he has had with representatives of non-governmental organisations on the provision of humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka.

Michael Foster: I and other UK Ministers have had many such discussions to try to improve the provision of aid to Sri Lanka. These include my visit to Sri Lanka on 27-28 April where I met the Sri Lankan Government, international agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). I pressed on the Government of Sri Lanka the need to: ensure international humanitarian access to those in the conflict zone; protect people from disproportionate use of force; and early return for those who have been displaced. I also pressed the Government of Sri Lanka to improve the conditions for people in displacement camps, especially through allowing international organisations and NGOs better access. I updated the House on my visit and other recent developments in a written statement on 29 April 2009,  Official Report, columns 49-50WS.

Aviation: Radio Frequencies

Patricia Hewitt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether he has had recent discussions with representatives of the International Telecommunications Union on the implications for aeronautical radio spectrum in the UK of introducing administered incentive pricing.

Patrick McFadden: My noble Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has not had recent discussions with representatives of the International Telecommunication Union, on the implications for aeronautical radio spectrum in the UK of introducing administered incentive pricing. Discussions of this nature are a matter for the regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) which represents the UK Government on matters of international spectrum policy, including in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Departmental Domestic Visits

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many bank branches the Secretary of State has visited on official business in the last 12 months.

Patrick McFadden: My right hon. and noble Friend, the Secretary of State visited a branch of Natwest at 1 Princes Street, London, to mark the start of RBS's regional fund schemes for local entrepreneurs.

Minimum Wage: Telephone Services

John McDonnell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what consultation his Department undertook with the Public and Commercial Services Union before the decision was taken to outsource the national minimum wage helpline.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 7 May 2009
	Several meetings took place with trade union representatives about the Department's plans prior to a decision being taken to outsource the new single enforcement helpline. These representatives included both local and national public and commercial services union officers.
	The new helpline will provide n single point of contact for vulnerable workers and employers seeking information and advice about the national minimum wage, the agricultural minimum wage, working time regulation and the special regulations relating to employment agencies and gangmasters. Plans for the helpline have been discussed at meetings of the Fair Employment Enforcement Board which brings together enforcement agencies from across Government, as well as employer and employee representations.

Non-domestic Rates

Peter Luff: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what discussions his Department has had with the Treasury and the Department for Communities and Local Government on the implementation of measures to introduce automatic rate relief for small businesses.

Ian Pearson: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government (John Healey) gave on 5 May 2009,  Official Report, column 141W.

Pensioner Assistance

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assistance his Department provides to people who receive pension credit in relation to payment of council tax.

Rosie Winterton: The Government are committed to ensuring that pensioners receive the support they are entitled to. We've already simplified the claims process so that pensioners can claim state pension, pension credit, housing benefit and council tax benefit in one phone call and we continue to look at ways of making further improvements.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people aged between 18 and 24 years claimed jobseeker's allowance in each of the last five years; and what proportion of the 18 to 24 years age group in  (a) the UK,  (b) each of the Scottish regions and  (c) North East Fife constituency claimed the allowance in each year.

Tony McNulty: The available information is shown in the following table.
	Population estimates for parliamentary constituencies in Scotland are published by the General Register Office for Scotland. The age breakdown provided is for five-year age groups. No estimate is available for the age group 18-24, therefore the proportions requested cannot be calculated.
	
		
			  Jobseeker's allowance claimants aged 18-24 in UK, Scotland by local authority area, and North East Fife parliamentary constituency in each of the last five years 
			  Area  March 2005  % of pop.  March 2006  % of pop.  March 2007  % of pop.  March 2008  % of pop.  March 2009  % of pop. 
			 United Kingdom 254,665 4.6 297,440 5.3 289,365 5.0 259,610 4.5 460,420 8.0 
			
			 Scotland 25,915 5.6 27,535 5.8 25,175 5.2 22,250 4.6 37,735 7.9 
			
			 Aberdeen City 705 3.1 665 2.8 530 2.2 465 1.9 715 3.0 
			 Aberdeenshire 585 3.6 445 2.7 375 2.2 335 1.9 605 3.5 
			 Angus 580 7.6 530 6.9 525 6.7 370 4.8 670 8.6 
			 Argyll and Bute 345 5.6 365 5.6 355 5.3 320 4.7 515 7.6 
			 Clackmannanshire 335 8.6 350 8.9 325 7.9 310 7.5 550 13.3 
			 Dumfries and Galloway 640 6.8 745 7.7 695 6.9 660 6.5 1,040 10.3 
			 Dundee City 1,100 6.2 1,165 6.6 1,035 5.9 930 5.3 1,420 8.1 
			 East Ayrshire 955 9.9 955 9.7 865 8.5 775 7.6 1,315 13.0 
			 East Dunbartonshire 280 3.2 315 3.6 305 3.4 245 2.8 485 5.5 
			 East Lothian 270 4.5 285 4.5 265 4.0 220 3.3 520 7.8 
			 East Renfrewshire 215 3.0 215 3.0 200 2.7 180 2.4 335 4.5 
			 Edinburgh, City of 1,670 2.9 1,875 3.2 1,705 2.9 1,420 2.4 2,525 4.3 
			 Eilean Siar 90 5.9 85 5.5 70 4.4 65 4.0 115 7.2 
			 Falkirk 850 7.1 870 7.3 785 6.5 690 5.7 1,275 10.6 
			 Fife 2,280 7.0 2,415 7.2 2,165 6.3 1,940 5.6 3,085 9.0 
			 Glasgow City 4,310 6.1 4,650 6.5 4,370 6.1 3,895 5.5 6,035 8.5 
			 Highland 835 5.9 820 5.7 715 4.8 605 4.1 1,130 7.6 
			 Inverclyde 670 9.2 670 9.1 660 8.9 600 8.1 795 10.7 
			 Midlothian 300 4.9 410 6.3 305 4.6 285 4.3 555 8.4 
			 Moray 305 4.7 400 6.2 340 5.1 330 4.9 500 7.5 
			 North Ayrshire 1,065 9.6 1,235 11.0 1,055 9.2 1,050 9.2 1,490 13.0 
			 North Lanarkshire 1,975 6.7 2,035 6.9 1,880 6.4 1,695 5.7 3,180 10.7 
			 Orkney Islands 45 3.8 50 4.0 50 3.9 20 1.5 55 4.3 
			 Perth and Kinross 395 4.2 440 4.1 445 3.8 280 2.4 565 4.8 
			 Renfrewshire 890 6.0 930 6.3 920 6.1 840 5.6 1,355 9.0 
			 Scottish Borders 310 4.6 365 5.2 330 4.5 300 4.1 630 8.7 
			 Shetland Islands 60 4.1 70 4.9 40 2.7 35 2.4 40 2.7 
			 South Ayrshire 600 7.1 680 7.9 540 6.1 485 5.5 865 9.8 
			 South Lanarkshire 1,400 5.3 1,530 5.8 1,405 5.2 1,240 4.6 2,405 9.0 
			 Stirling 335 3.9 340 3.6 310 3.2 265 2.7 565 5.9 
			 West Dunbartonshire 765 8.7 820 9.2 760 8.6 625 7.0 1,010 11.4 
			 West Lothian 750 5.6 815 6.0 845 6.0 785 5.5 1,390 9.8 
			
			 North East Fife parliamentary constituency 250 n/a 240 n/a 235 n/a 205 n/a 330 n/a 
			  Notes:  1. Caseloads are rounded to the nearest 5.  2. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place.  3. Figures include clerically held cases.  4. Claimant count data is published at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk  Source:  100 per cent. count of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus computer systems, and Population Estimates Unit, ONS.

Asbestos

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what research the Government have funded into the consequences of long-term exposure to asbestos.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) maintains a longstanding and continuing programme of research into the health effects of asbestos exposure.
	Since 1968 HSE has maintained the Great Britain Mesothelioma and Asbestosis Registers which document annual deaths from these conditions giving vital data for research.
	Since the early 1970s HSE has maintained a long term research study of more specific groups of workers in the British asbestos manufacturing industry, now including the current asbestos removals industry, to monitor their long term health status, in particular, their cancer and mortality rates, and to evaluate the effectiveness of legislation protecting their health.
	Most recently HSE (with Cancer Research UK) commissioned Professor Julian Peto of the Institute of Cancer Research to measure the lung asbestos content in individuals with the asbestos-related cancer, mesothelioma, and those with and without it, including young men only potentially exposed more recently, to better assess the level of past exposure associated with disease and predict the future impact of current exposures. This follows HSE funded research by Professor Peto on mesothelioma risk in specific occupations and from other potential sources of exposure.
	The programme enables HSE to document and predict overall trends in the occurrence of key asbestos related diseases; identify changing patterns of occupational risk; monitor the long term health of those working in occupations covered by legislation on asbestos exposure at work; collate scientific information to improve knowledge about risk from different types of asbestos and at different exposures; and improve, and evaluate preventive measures.
	Further details of HSE's research programme are available from the HSE website.

Employment and Support Allowance

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what  (a) benefits and  (b) other concessions are available to those eligible for the income-related employment support allowance; if he will make it his policy to adjust the payment of contributory employment support allowance to allow eligibility for income-related employment support allowance; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: People on income-related employment and support allowance are automatically passported to a range of support, including the maximum levels of housing benefit and council tax benefit, free prescriptions and dental care. In addition they are eligible for a wide range of help from the Social Fund.
	Customers in receipt of contributory Employment and Support Allowance only, are not automatically entitled to passported benefits, but are able to apply separately, under low income schemes, for most benefits that are passported.
	We will continue to keep the policy under review.

Employment Services

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent steps his Department has taken to assist skilled long-term unemployed persons to gain access to re-training and new employment opportunities.

Tony McNulty: The Budget has made an additional £2.8 billion available to DWP, on top of the £1.3 billion funding announced in the pre-Budget report, which will ensure that over the next two years, we can continue to expand our support to jobseekers through the economic downturn. Among other initiatives, this extra funding will enable us to guarantee a job or other meaningful activity to young people and certain disadvantaged groups from the 12-month point of their claim.
	The Government are investing £0.5 billion over two years to support people through an expanded range of work and training options to provide jobs through recruitment subsidies, support to start a business, work-related training and volunteering opportunities. This extra help was introduced on 6 April and is available to all those who have been out of work and claiming jobseeker's allowance for six months or more.
	Jobseeker's allowance customers can train for up to 16 hours per week alongside active job search. Jobseekers may also undertake up to two weeks of full-time training in any 12-month period, without jeopardising their benefit entitlements. Additionally, from 6 April, anyone who has been unemployed and claiming benefits for more than six months can study full time for up to eight weeks on a job-related training course approved by an employment adviser.
	The introduction of the flexible new deal in phase 1 areas from October will establish a new, unified approach for longer-term jobseekers, whatever their age, skills or barriers to work. The flexible new deal will deliver work-focused support, tailored to each individual's needs and local labour market requirements.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were investigated for benefit fraud in each of the last three years; how many were subsequently  (a) cautioned and  (b) prosecuted and convicted; and how many of those convicted in each such year received (i) a custodial sentence, (ii) a community sentence and (iii) a discharge.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 5 March 2009
	The available information for DWP administered benefits is in the following table.
	
		
			   Total number  of investigation  Cautions  Number of  prosecuted  Convictions  Custodial sentence  Community sentence  Discharges 
			 2005-06 408,062 10,543 10,262 8,740 919 2,927 2,441 
			 2006-07 128,443 11,976 8,964 6,861 616 2,415 1,734 
			 2007-08 86,909 12,821 10,274 7,745 522 2,780 2,207 
			  Notes: 1. In April 2006 Jobcentre Plus reorganised its counter fraud resources into two new services; the Fraud Investigation Service was established, focussing on high value cases with a view to securing criminal sanctions including prosecutions. At the same time a customer compliance approach was deployed to deal with less serious cases more speedily with an emphasis on benefit correction, recovery of overpayments and warning customers on their future conduct. 2. The figures for 2006-07 reflect this with the number of investigations shown relating to criminal investigations only from this point. The number of customer compliance activities completed in 2006-07 and 2007-08 were 290,476 £ 371,592 respectively.  Sources: Prosecution and Conviction data for England and Wales from DWP/DH Legal Group Prosecution and Conviction data for Scotland from FIBS and FRAIMS Investigations, Cautions, Discharges, Community Service and Custodial Sentence data: 2005-07 from FIBS and FRAIMS Discharges, Community Service and Custodial Sentence data for 2007-08 from DWP/DH Legal Group. 
		
	
	The available information for housing benefit is provided in the following table
	
		
			   Fraud investigations  Cautions  Admin penalties  Prosecutions  Guilty verdicts. 
			 2005-06 194,062 9,708 6,199 6,041 6,234 
			 2006-07 172,429 10,662 6,742 6,023 5,860 
			 2007-08 160,774 12,569 8,416 6,611 6,493 
			  Source: Housing Benefit Operational Database (HOBOD) based on the local authority administrative return called 'Stats 124'

Unemployed: Social Security Benefits

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to page 92 of the Pre-Budget Report 2008, to what areas the £1.3 billion funding to deliver support for the unemployed has been allocated; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The pre-Budget report allocated an additional £1.3 billion over CSR07 to help to deliver effective support to unemployed people. This provides additional money to Jobcentre Plus, contracted employment providers and local authorities.
	This money is providing 6,000 additional staff in Jobcentre Plus in 2009-10, and is also being used to implement the additional measures that were announced in the pre-Budget report—expansion of Local Employer Partnerships, further expansion of Jobcentre Plus' Rapid Response Service and to provide a new package of support aimed at jobseekers that have recently become unemployed and have no recent experience of current job search channels.

Unemployment Benefits

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to use the broad definition of work-related activity contained in the Gregg review in regulations to be made under the Welfare Reform Bill if enacted.

Tony McNulty: We are not planning to define the term 'work-related activity' in regulations under the Welfare Reform Bill. We are keen to ensure that the term work-related activity can be interpreted flexibly so it can be tailored to an individual's needs. This will allow the customer in conjunction with their personal adviser to agree activities that are tailored to their individual circumstances and will best help them move closer to work. As Professor Gregg suggested, work related activity could include training, skills and job-related support as well as wider measures such as volunteering, undertaking parenting programmes or visiting a debt adviser.
	We will be using this wide concept of work-related activity as a basis for producing guidance for personal advisers to help them decide which activities will best assist their customers to move closer to the labour market. We will continue to involve stakeholders in the design of the Progression to Work Pathfinders.

Higher Education: Finance

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much funding was allocated under the Widening Participation programme to universities in  (a) 2005-06,  (b) 2006-07 and  (c) 2007-08.

David Lammy: This Government are fully committed to ensuring every young person has a fair chance of attending university. And we are making progress with the proportion of young entrants from lower socio-economic groups going to university increasing steadily, reaching almost 30 per cent. in 2007.
	The amount spent on all programmes to encourage and widen participation in higher education in the years 2005-06 to 2007-08 was as follows. Figures are £ million to nearest whole number.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Aimhigher(1) 102 87 80 
			 Student support(2) 1,411 1,634 1,962 
			 Widening participation allocation(3) 284 345 356 
			 University bursaries and outreach(4) 0 116 192 
			 Total 1,797 2,182 2,590 
			 (1) This is the total Aimhigher budget. The amounts allocated specifically to universities are not available at national level. (2) The student support figures are for all English domiciled students and not just those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Includes student loans Resource Account Budget (RAB) charge, fee loans, student support grants, Maintenance Grant, HE Grant, grants for vulnerable students, tuition fee grants, grants for part-time students and access funds and bursaries. The student loans RAB charge estimates the future cost to Government of subsidising and writing off the student loans issued in that year; it does not represent the amount of cash lent to students, which has risen each year since the introduction of student loans. Figures for 1997-2007 are outturn; that for 2007-08 is estimated outturn; those for 2008-11 are plans. (3) These figures also include the allocations for improving the retention of non traditional students, and to widen access and improve provision for disabled students. (4) University bursaries and outreach are funded by universities from their tuition fee income under the terms of their access agreements with the Office for Fair Access.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate his Department has made of the number of shots fired by UK armed forces in Helmand province since 2006.

Bob Ainsworth: Officials are collating and validating the data needed and this is taking longer than anticipated. I will write to the right hon. Member when this work is complete and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Armed Forces: Foreigners

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many foreign nationals from each country of origin  (a) serving and  (b) who formerly served in the UK armed forces are estimated would become eligible for residency in the UK if there were an automatic right to residency as a current or former service person.

Bob Ainsworth: holding  answer  7 May 2009
	Foreign and Commonwealth personnel are able to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the UK or Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) the UK, or Settlement as they are more commonly known, upon discharge from the Services so long as they have completed a minimum of 4 years Service at the point of discharge. It is for the Home Office to decide whether or not an individual meets all the requirements to be granted ILR or ILE.
	Country of Origin data is not currently available due to an ongoing data validation of the Ministry of Defence Joint Personnel Administrative system (JPA).
	 (a) The number of foreign nationals serving in the trained regular UK armed forces as at 1 January 2009 by nationality is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of foreign nationals serving in the trained regular UK armed forces as at 1 January 2009 by nationality( 1) 
			   All Services( 2)  Naval Service( 2)  Army( 2)  RAF( 2) 
			 Non-UK total 7,550 630 6,830 90 
			  
			 Commonwealth total(3) 6,970 570 6,340 60 
			 Antiguan (4)— (4)— (4)— (4)— 
			 Australian 80 10 60 (4)— 
			 Bahamian (4)— (4)— (4)— (4)— 
			 Bangladeshi 10 (4)— 10 (4)— 
			 Barbadian 10 (4)— 10 (4)— 
			 Belizean (4)— (4)— (4)— (4)— 
			 Botswanan 10 (4)— 10 (4)— 
			 British Commonwealth 10 (4)— 10 (4)— 
			 Cameroonian 40 (4)— 40 (4)— 
			 Canadian SO 20 50 (4)— 
			 Citizen of Fiji 2,220 100 2,110 10 
			 Citizen of Seychelles 10 (4)— 10 (4)— 
			 Citizen of Sri Lanka 10 (4)— 10 (4)— 
			 Citizen of St. Kitts (4)— (4)— (4)— (4)— 
			 Dominican 30 10 20 (4)— 
			 Gambian 160 1� 150 (4) 
			 Ghanaian 740 10 740 (4) 
			 Grenadian 60 (4) 50 (4) 
			 Guyanese 20 (4) . 20 (4) 
			 Indian 80 10 60 (4) 
			 Jamaican 640 30 600 10 
			 Kenyan 140 10 130 (4) 
			 Lesotho (4) (4) (4) (4) 
			 Malawi an 170 10 160 (4) 
			 Malaysian 10 (4) (4) (4) 
			 Maltese 10 (4) (4) (4) 
			 Mauritian 40 (4) 40 (4) 
			 Namibian (4) (4) (4) (4) 
			 New Zealander 80 10 60 (4) 
			 Nigerian 120 10 110 (4) 
			 Pakistani 10 (4) 10 (4) 
			 Papua New Guinean (4) (4) (4) (4) 
			 Sierra Leonean 40 (4) 40 (4) 
			 Singaporean (4) (4) (4) (4) 
			 South African 840 60 770 10 
			 St. Lucian 200 10 190 (4) 
			 Swazi 10 (4) 10 (4) 
			 Tanzanian (4) (4) (4) (4) 
			 Tongan 10 (4) 10 (4) 
			 Trinidad and Tobago citizen 100 20 60 10 
			 Ugandan 70 (4) 70 (4) 
			 Vincentian 430 200 230 (4) 
			 Zambian 30 10 20 (4) 
			 Zimbabwean 460 20 440 (4) 
			  
			 Other Foreign total 570 50 490 30 
			 Afghan (4) (4) (4) (4) 
			 American 10 (4) (4) (4) 
			 Brazilian (4) (4) (4) (4) 
			 Dutch (4) (4) (4) (4) 
			 Filipino (4) (4) (4) (4) 
			 Foreign (4) (4) (4) (4) 
			 French (4) (4) (4) (4) 
			 German (4) (4) (4) (4) 
			 Greek (4) (4) (4) (4) 
			 Irish(3) 280 50 210 30 
			 Mauritanian (4) (4) (4) (4) 
			 Nepalese 260 (4) 260 (4) 
			 Swiss (4) (4) (4) (4) 
			 Ukrainian (4) (4) (4) (4) 
			  
			 Unknown total(4) 1,140 150 850 130 
			 (1) Nationality is as recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration system (JPA). (2) Provisional (3) Includes Zimbabwean and Fijian citizens, who continue to retain Commonwealth status under the British Nationality Act 1981. (4) Zero or rounded to zero (5) Citizens of the Republic of Ireland. (6) Includes those with an unrecorded nationality.  Note : Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10  Source:  DASA (Quad-Service) 
		
	
	 (b) It is not possible to provide numbers of foreign nationals who served in the UK armed forces but had left by the end of 2008.

Armed Forces: Labour Turnover

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Coventry South of 9 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1531W, on service personnel: retention, which pinch point trades his Department is monitoring; what the exit rates of such trades are; what steps his Department is taking to improve retention and recruitment in these areas; and if he will make a statement.

Kevan Jones: All pinch point trades are monitored closely by the single services and considerable effort is expended in reducing the impact on these groups of people through careful management and financial incentives to encourage them to stay in the armed forces.
	Recruitment in to all three Services has improved over the past few months, primarily as a result of targeted national, regional and local level recruiting campaigns. There has also been a significant increase in expressions of interest through the Armed Forces Recruitment Offices and through on-line applications, which is attributed in part to the current economic circumstances and rising unemployment. Taking the armed forces as a whole, retention rates are stable and we have seen no sudden outflow of personnel. There is real concern, however, that in some important areas exit rates are too high. These areas are continuously reviewed and the Department has put in place a wide range of measures to improve recruitment and retention in the armed forces including: career management, improvement to conditions of service and work/life balance, extensions to normal engagement lengths, commitment bonuses and targeted Financial Retention Initiatives. Examples of schemes and incentives in place are: Golden Hellos, Commitment Bonuses, Recruit Bounty Schemes and targeted Recruitment and Retention Incentives. Each incentive is tailored to meet specific Service requirements.
	The following tables show the pinch point trades liability, shortfalls, outflow and voluntary outflow (VO) in real numbers and percentage figures for quarter 3 of the Operational and Manning Pinch Point statistics. These are the latest available figures.
	
		
			  Royal Navy 
			Shortfall
			   Liability  Number  Percentage  Inflow  Outflow  VO (percentage) 
			  Operational Pinch Point Trades   
			 Lt Cdr X SM Command Qualified (SM(CQ)) 47 2 5 n/a 3 0 
			 Lt X SM IWC Qualified and SQEP 40 1 3 n/a 16 7.5 
			 Principal Warfare Officers 359 70 20 n/a 38 4.0 
			 RN Harrier GR7 Instructors 7 4 57 n/a 1 0 
			 GR7 Harrier Pilots - Lt 35 14 40 n/a 0 4.0 
			 MCD/MWO Lts 81 34 43 n/a 7 3.8 
			 Strategic Weapons Systems Junior Ranks 110 24 22 n/a 22 5.0 
			 Merlin Pilots 122 44 36 n/a 7 2.5 
			 Merlin Observers 116 45 39 n/a 1 1.5 
			 Merlin Aircrewmen 103 23 22 n/a 10 14.6 
			 Leading Seaman General Warfare 1,105 290 26 n/a 106 8.3 
			 Able Rate Diver 135 40 30 n/a 12 10.0 
			 Lt X SM Advanced Warfare Course Qualified (SQEP) 34 4 12 n/a 16 4.0 
			 Able Rate 1 Seaman 388 97 25 n/a 74 16.0 
			 Able Rate 1 Warfare Specialist 666 31 5 n/a 173 13.0 
			 Able Rate 1 Communications and Information Systems 367 32 9 n/a 77 16.0 
			 Leading Aircraft Controllers 73 32 44 n/a 5 6.5 
			 Royal Marines Other Ranks (Pt - Cpl) 6,525 522 8 n/a 484 7.3 
			 Able Rate Warfare Specialist (Sensors Submariner) 178 34 17 n/a 30 6.0 
			 Sea-King and Lynx Avionics Supervisors 348 64 18 n/a 3 Not available 
			 Cat A2 Nuclear Watchkeepers 189 32 17 n/a 12 6.0 
			 Cat B Nuclear Watchkeepers 377 61 16 n/a 44 6.0 
			 L Logs (CS) (P) 328 67 25 n/a 27 2.0 
			 AB Logs (CS) (P) 456 9 2 n/a 48 6.0 
			 L Logs (Pers) 239 17 7 n/a 26 4.0 
			 AB Logs (Pers) 392 1 0 n/a 49 9.0 
			 LS (MW) 70 5 8 n/a 3 6.0 
			 Able Rate Warfare Specialist (Tactical Submariner) 124 8 7 n/a 13 7.0 
			  Notes: 1. Outflow is to January 2009. 2. Lt X SM IWC Qualified and SQEP and Lt X SM Advanced Warfare Course Qualified(SQEP) are the same group and are 16 in total but they are two separate OPPs. 3. SQEP means Suitably Qualified and Experience Personnel, i.e. have the skills to do a particular job and in case of SM if AWC are qualified to be a Watch Leader. 
		
	
	
		
			  Army 
			Shortfall
			   Liability  Number  Percentage  Inflow  Outflow  VO (percentage) 
			  Operational Pinch Point Trades   
			 RE Clk of Wks - SSgt-WO1 248 11 4.4 n/a n/a n/a 
			 RLC Ammo Tech - Cpl-SSgt 306 130 42.5 n/a n/a n/a 
			 Infantry - Pte-LCpl 14,980 1,600 10.7 n/a n/a n/a 
			 REME Rec Mech - LCpl-Cpl 339 126 37.2 n/a n/a n/a 
			 RE EOD - Cpl-SSgt 131 22 16.7 n/a n/a n/a 
			 REME VM - Cfn-Cpl 3,521 297 8.4 n/a n/a n/a 
			 Int OPMI - Cpl-Sgt 708 232 32.8 n/a n/a n/a 
			 REME Armourer - Cfn-Cpl 377 74 19.6 n/a n/a n/a 
			 RA Gunner - Gnr-Bdr (including Para/Cdo Gnrs and OP Asst) 4,987 497 10.0 n/a n/a n/a 
			  Manning Pinch Point Trades   
			 AMS Radiologist - Maj+ 4 2 50.0 n/a n/a n/a 
			 AMS ITU Nurse - Cpl-Capt 121 86 71.1 n/a n/a n/a 
			 AMS EM Nurse - Cpl-Capt 101 63 62.4 n/a n/a n/a 
			 AMS Radiographer - Cpl+ 24 12 50.0 n/a n/a n/a 
			 AMS Anaesthetist - Maj+ 49 26 53.1 n/a n/a n/a 
			 AMS Orth Surg - Maj+ 13 3 23.1 n/a n/a n/a 
			 AMS Gen Surg - Maj+ 17 7 41.2 n/a n/a n/a 
			 RE ME Geo - Spr-WO2 365 81 22.2 n/a n/a n/a 
			 RLC PC Op - Pte-Cpl 433 -2 -0.5 n/a n/a n/a 
			 RA UAV Op - LBdr-SSgt 370 71 19.2 n/a n/a n/a 
			 RE ME Fitter - Spr-LCpl 495 86 17.4 n/a n/a n/a 
			 AGC(SPS) Mil Admin - Pte- Sgt 2,666 374 14.0 n/a n/a n/a 
			 AMS GMP - Capt+ 155 18 11.6 n/a n/a n/a 
			 R Signals IS Engr  Cpl-Sgt 252 128 50.8 n/a n/a n/a 
			 CAMUS  Musician 300 101 33.7 n/a n/a n/a 
			 AMS ODP  Cpl+ 95 14 14.7 n/a n/a n/a 
			 AMS RGN  Cpl-Sgt 293 30 10.2 n/a n/a n/a 
			 RE ME C3S  Spr-LCpl 712 101 14.2 n/a n/a n/a 
			 RLC Chef  Pte-LCpl 1,459 76 5.2 n/a n/a n/a 
		
	
	
		
			  Royal Air Force 
			Shortfall
			   Liability  Number  Percentage  Inflow  Outflow  VO (percentage) 
			  Operational Pinch Point Trades   
			 Flying Branch (Career Stream)(Senior Officer) 677 101 15 100 70 20 
			 Pilot (Junior Officer) 1,490 202 14 160 150 40 
			 Operations Support (Intelligence) 229 5 2 10 20 10 
			 Operations Support (Regiment) 275 40 14 30 20 10 
			 Operations Support (Flight Operations) 224 5 2 20   
			 Medical 282 69 24  10  
			 Medical Nursing Officer 179 51 28 10 20 10 
			 Weapons System Operator (Crewman) 577 74 13 70 30 10 
			 Weapons System Operator (Linguist) 63 13 21 10 10  
			 Mechanical Transport Technician 355 13 4  30 20 
			 Gunner 1,924 222 11 330 190 110 
			 Fire Fighter 545 27 5 110 60 20 
			 Air Traffic Control/Flight Operations Manager/Flight Operations Assistant 1,246 18 1 110 80 40 
			 Logistics (Mover) 895 46 5 50 70 50 
			  Manning Pinch Point Trades   
			 Weapons System Officer (Junior Officer) 513 74 14 10 30 10 
			 Operations Support (Aerospace Battle Manager) 342 49 14 10 20 10 
			 Operations Support (Air Traffic Control) 397 26 6 20 30 10 
			 Personnel (Support) 521 27 5 50 40 20 
			 Personnel (Training) 219 21 10 10 20 10 
			 Dental 71 14 20  10  
			 Chaplains 78 15 19  10  
			 Aircraft Technician (Mechanical) 4,965 666 13 10 290 200 
			 Aircraft Technician (Avionics) 3,942 505 13 10 260 180 
			 General Technician (Electrical) 551 60 11 20 70 40 
			 General Technician (Mechanical) 963 527 75 20 30 20 
			 Intelligence (Analyst) 679 89 13 40 30 20 
			 Survival Equipment Fitter 607 45 7 30 80 40 
			 Biomedical Scientist 15 6 40 0   
			 Dental Nurse 131 9 7 20 10 10 
			 Musician 175 23 13 10 10

Bomb Disposal: Northern Ireland

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  on how many occasions an Army bomb disposal squad has been called out  (a) to deal with devices and  (b) to respond to hoax calls in each district of Northern Ireland in each of the last 24 months;
	(2)  how many injuries members of Army bomb disposal squads have sustained in Northern Ireland in the last 18 months;
	(3)  how many military personnel are deployed on bomb disposal duties in Northern Ireland.

Bob Ainsworth: As at 1 May 2009, 44 members of 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Regiment were stationed in Northern Ireland. No EOD personnel have sustained injuries on duty in Northern Ireland in the last 18 months. The following table shows the number of times Army EOD personnel have been called out in Northern Ireland in the last 24 months.
	
		
			   IED( 1) /Incendia ry( 2) /Find( 3 ) call outs  Hoax( 4) /False( 3)  call outs  Total call outs 
			  2007
			 May 18 4 22 
			 June 13 6 19 
			 July 16 10 26 
			 August 11 1 12 
			 September 26 5 31 
			 October 23 6 29 
			 November 15 2 17 
			 December 2007 17 5 22 
			  2008
			 January 6 15 21 
			 February 2 16 18 
			 March 7 16 23 
			 April 20 4 24 
			 May 12 17 29 
			 June 16 7 23 
			 July 17 6 23 
			 August 12 14 26 
			 September 19 11 30 
			 October 21 14 35 
			 November 30 25 55 
			 December 19 7 26 
			  2009
			 January 19 4 23 
			 February 18 9 27 
			 March 28 51 79 
			 April 22 29 51 
			 (1) IEDThe report of EOD action which results in the total neutralisation, disruption or dismantling of an Improvised Explosive Device. (2) IncendiaryThe report of the functioning of an IED which is primarily designed to cause damage by burning. (3) FindThe report of explosives or bomb-making components, weapons, ammunition or tools found by the police or security forces and confirmed by the EOD Operator after full investigation. (4) HoaxThe report of an incident where, after full investigation, an object is discovered to be a simulated IED. (5) FalseA report made in good faith of an object believed to be an IED which, upon full investigation, proves to be innocuous. 
		
	
	The number of each call out type by district is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Military Bases: Northern Ireland

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on the security of UK army bases in Northern Ireland;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on the future of UK military personnel based in Northern Ireland.

Bob Ainsworth: There are regular Security Policy Meetings (SPM), chaired by Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, which discuss security arrangements in Northern Ireland, and the MOD are always represented. I recently visited Northern Ireland where I had meetings with relevant security officials, and discussed the general security situation and more specifically the measures taken to protect the MOD bases and our people who will remain garrisoned there. I also met the Chief Constable. We will continue the work to ensure that security of military bases and our people is as strong as possible while allowing our people to lead a normal life.
	There have been no formal discussions between the Secretary of State for Defence and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, but they are regularly in touch and have many informal discussions.

RAF Cosford

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will put in place contingency plans for the use of RAF Cosford in the event that Operation Borona does not coincide with the vacating of RAF Cosford as part of the Defence Training Review Programme.

Bob Ainsworth: RAF Cosford is currently the Ministry of Defence's preferred location for 1 Signal Brigade and 102 Logistics Brigade returning from Germany under Programme Borona. There are currently no detailed contingency plans for the use of RAF Cosford should our requirements under Borona no longer match the availability of the site. However, as RAF Cosford is a well found site that has enduring military utility, it has been designated a 'Core Site' and the alternative opportunities it offers would be considered should the need arise.

Swine Flu

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many  (a) masks and  (b) pairs of gloves (i) are held and (ii) have been ordered by the Defence Medical Services for the purposes of preventing the spread of swine influenza.

Quentin Davies: holding answer 7 May 2009
	MOD follows Health Protection Agency (HPA) guidance in planning for an outbreak of pandemic influenza. In 2007, defence medical centres assessed their emergency requirements for infection control consumables, and around 275,000 masks and 150,000 pairs of gloves were distributed to centres in the UK and overseas bases. An additional three months' stock, calculated at three months' regular usage and amounting to around 8,000 masks and 48,000 pairs of gloves, is held by the Defence Storage and Distribution Agency (DSDA), to provide stock for operations overseas and ships afloat. This stock is replenished as items are consumed. Overall, these remain sufficient for our predicted emergency requirements, calculated on the basis of HPA advice.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to Table C11 of the Budget Report 2009, for what reason his Department  (a) spent 1.5 billion less on its resource budget for 2008-09 and  (b) spent 0.1 billion less on its capital budget than the planned expenditure set out in the 2008 pre-Budget report; and whether these sums will be available for spending in future years.

Ben Bradshaw: The difference is due to the different presentation of the numbers. The pre-Budget report published expenditure figures on the basis of funding available to the national health service; Budget 2009 published forecast outturn expenditure for 2008-09. Therefore, the difference in figures is the estimated NHS underspend.
	The Department's end year flexibility stock is published each year in July in the Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper. The Department's access to this stock is subject to normal Treasury scrutiny on the basis of need and realism, and the wider fiscal position.

Health Services: Bank Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures his Department has taken to support charities providing NHS services who had deposited funds in Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander bank; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The investment of funds by charities providing national health service services are regulated by the Charities Commission and as such follow the governance framework as set out by the Commission. Therefore, charities providing NHS services are outside the scope of the financial regime that is performance managed by the Department.
	Government have taken action to work with the Icelandic authorities and through the International Monetary Fund to ensure fair treatment for all United Kingdom creditors. We have been clear that we will fully support charities in pursuit of any claims through administration.

Health Visitors: Children

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate he has made of the ratio of children to health visitors in each primary care trust in England.

Ann Keen: This information is in the following table.
	
		
			  NHS hospital and community health services: Health visitors per 10,000 children( 1)  in England by strategic health authority area and by organisation as at 30 September 2008 
			Number 
			 England  25 
			
			  North East Strategic Health Authority area  33 
			 County Durham Primary Care Trust (PCT) 5ND 3 
			 Darlington PCT 5J9 191 
			 Gateshead PCT 5KF 30 
			 Hartlepool PCT 5D9 18 
			 Newcastle PCT 5D7 37 
			 North Tees PCT 5E1 25 
			 North Tyneside PCT 5D8 35 
			 Northumberland Care Trust TAC 20 
			 Redcar and Cleveland PCT 5QR 50 
			 South Tyneside PCT 5KG 43 
			 Sunderland Teaching PCT 5KL 32 
			
			  North West Strategic Health Authority area  31 
			 Ashton, Leigh and Wigan PCT 5HG 40 
			 Blackburn with Darwen PCT 5CC 37 
			 Blackpool PCT 5HP 58 
			 Bolton PCT 5HQ 31 
			 Bury PCT 5JX 33 
			 Central and Eastern Cheshire PCT 5NP 23 
			 Central Lancashire PCT 5NG 27 
			 Cumbria PCT 5NE 30 
			 East Lancashire PCT 5NH 29 
			 Halton and St. Helens PCT 5NM 27 
			 Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale PCT 5NQ 39 
			 Knowsley PCT 5J4 42 
			 Liverpool PCT 5NL 31 
			 Manchester PCT 5NT 28 
			 North Lancashire PCT 5NF 40 
			 Oldham PCT 5J5 22 
			 Salford PCT 5F5 21 
			 Sefton PCT 5NJ 28 
			 Stockport PCT 5F7 29 
			 Tameside and Glossop PCT 5LH 30 
			 Trafford PCT 5NR 25 
			 Warrington PCT 5J2 28 
			 West Cheshire PCT 5NN 34 
			 Wirral PCT 5NK 31 
			
			  Yorkshire and the Humber Strategic Health Authority area  28 
			 Barnsley PCT 5JE 32 
			 Bradford and Airedale Teaching PCT 5NY 26 
			 Calderdale PCT 5J6 33 
			 Doncaster PCT 5N5 37 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire PCT 5NW 27 
			 Hull Teaching PCT 5NX 34 
			 Kirklees PCT 5N2 21 
			 Leeds PCT 5N1 26 
			 North East Lincolnshire Care trust TAN 32 
			 North Lincolnshire PCT 5EF 28 
			 North Yorkshire and York PCT 5NV 22 
			 Rotherham PCT 5H8 29 
			 Sheffield PCT 5N4 26 
			 Wakefield District PCT 5N3 34 
			
			  East Midlands Strategic Health Authority area  24 
			 Bassetlaw PCT 5ET 22 
			 Derby City PCT 5N7 27 
			 Derbyshire County PCT 5N6 30 
			 Leicester City Teaching PCT 5PC 22 
			 Leicestershire County and Rutland PCT 5PA 17 
			 Lincolnshire Teaching PCT 5N9 27 
			 Northamptonshire Teaching P|CT 5PD 19 
			 Nottingham City PCT 5EM 35 
			 Nottinghamshire County Teaching PCT 5N8 20 
			
			  West Midlands Strategic Health Authority area  25 
			 Birmingham East and North PCT 5PG 19 
			 Coventry Teaching PCT 5MD 15 
			 Dudley PCT 5PE 28 
			 Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT 5MX 23 
			 Herefordshire PCT 5CN 19 
			 North Staffordshire PCT 5PH 30 
			 Sandwell PCT 5PF 27 
			 Shropshire County PCT 5M2 25 
			 Solihull Care Trust TAM 33 
			 South Birmingham PCT 5M1 24 
			 South Staffordshire PCT 5PK 27 
			 Stoke on Trent Teaching PCT 5PJ 37 
			 Telford and Wrekin PCT 5MK 28 
			 Walsall Teaching PCT 5M3 24 
			 Warwickshire PCT 5PM 22 
			 Wolverhampton City PCT 5MV 27 
			 Worcestershire PCT 5PL 29 
			
			  East of England Strategic Health Authority area  21 
			 Bedfordshire PCT 5P2 23 
			 Cambridgeshire PCT 5PP 11 
			 East and North Hertfordshire PCT 5P3 21 
			 Great Yarmouth and Waveney Teaching PCT 5PR 27 
			 Luton PCT 5GC 20 
			 Mid Essex PCT 5PX 17 
			 Norfolk PCT 5PQ 24 
			 North East Essex PCT 5PW 19 
			 Peterborough PCT 5PN 26 
			 South East Essex PCT 5P1 25 
			 South West Essex Teaching PCT 5PY 25 
			 Suffolk PCT 5PT 21 
			 West Essex PCT 5PV 20 
			 West Hertfordshire PCT 5P4 20 
			
			  London Strategic Health Authority area  21 
			 Barking and Dagenham PCT 5C2 12 
			 Barnet PCT 5A9 9 
			 Bexley Care Trust TAK 27 
			 Brent Teaching PCT 5K5 16 
			 Bromley PCT 5A7 26 
			 Camden PCT 5K7 18 
			 City and Hackney PCT 5C3 21 
			 Croydon PCT 5K9 20 
			 Ealing PCT 5HX 22 
			 Enfield PCT 5C1 16 
			 Greenwich Teaching PCT 5A8 22 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham PCT 5H1 44 
			 Haringey Teaching PCT 5C9 2 
			 Harrow PCT 5K6 18 
			 Havering PCT 5A4 20 
			 Hillingdon PCT 5AT 20 
			 Hounslow PCT 5HY 16 
			 Islington PCT 5K8 21 
			 Kensington and Chelsea PCT 5LA 23 
			 Kingston PCT 5A5 17 
			 Lambeth PCT 5LD 17 
			 Lewisham PCT 5LF 31 
			 Newham PCT 5C5 12 
			 Redbridge PCT 5NA 17 
			 Richmond and Twickenham 5M6 20 
			 Southwark PCT 5LE 39 
			 Sutton and Merton PCT 5M7 25 
			 Tower Hamlets PCT 5C4 23 
			 Waltham Forest PCT 5NC 20 
			 Wandsworth PCT 5LG 22 
			 Westminster PCT 5LC 34 
			
			  South East Coast Strategic Health Authority area  21 
			 East Sussex Downs and Weald PCT 5P7 25 
			 Eastern and Coastal Kent Teaching PCT 5QA 24 
			 Hastings and Rother PCT 5P8 31 
			 Medway PCT 5L3 25 
			 Surrey PCT 5P5 15 
			 West Kent PCT 5P9 15 
			 West Sussex Teaching PCT 5P6 17 
			
			  South Central Strategic Health Authority area  20 
			 Berkshire East Teaching PCT 5QG 18 
			 Berkshire West PCT 5QF 20 
			 Buckinghamshire PCT 5QD 22 
			 Hampshire PCT 5QC 15 
			 Isle of Wight Healthcare PCT 5QT 21 
			 Milton Keynes PCT 5CQ 26 
			 Oxfordshire PCT 5QE 25 
			 Portsmouth City Teaching PCT 5FE 24 
			 Southampton City PCT 5L1 17 
			
			  South West Strategic Health Authority area  26 
			 Bath and North East Somerset PCT 5FL 29 
			 Bournemouth and Poole PCT 5QN 31 
			 Bristol Teaching PCT 5QJ 32 
			 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly PCT 5QP 29 
			 Devon PCT 5QQ 21 
			 Dorset PCT 5QM 28 
			 Gloucestershire PCT 5QH 27 
			 North Somerset PCT 5M8 23 
			 Plymouth Teaching PCT 5F1 28 
			 Somerset PCT 5QL 23 
			 South Gloucestershire PCT 5A3 22 
			 Swindon PCT 5K3 19 
			 Torbay Care Trust TAL 27 
			 Wiltshire PCT 5QK 21 
			 (1) Children are defined as those aged 0-5 years.  Notes: 1. Full-time equivalent figures are rounded to the nearest whole number. 2. Strategic health authority area totals include a small number of staff employed by NHS trusts including, for example, health visitors employed by Great Ormond Street and working in Haringey. 3. The low figure for County Durham and extremely high figure for Darlington are an anomaly caused by the fact that County Durham commissions services for both County Durham and Darlington and in the case of community health services, these are provided for both PCTs by Darlington.  Sources: The NHS Information Centre for health and social care Non-Medical Workforce Census. Primary Care Organisations Mid Year 2007 Population Estimates, 2001 Population Census Based. Office for National Statistics Population Estimates.

NHS: ICT

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on the deployment of Lorenzo and Cerner Millennium in each early adopter site for the National Programme for IT.

Ben Bradshaw: Lorenzo release 1.0 provides functionality for clinical documentation, and requests and results. Of the three Lorenzo release 1.0 early adopter sites, the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS trust is currently using the radiology requests and results functionality in its general surgery and urology wards, and has begun making plans for its use for inpatient, outpatient, and accident and emergency discharge summaries. South Birmingham Primary Care Trust (PCT) has a number of podiatrists using the system, working in eight different physical locations in the PCT. Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust went live for radiology results and requests in a nurse-led orthopaedic clinic at the end of March 2009.
	In London, three acute trusts, Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals, Queen Mary's Sidcup and Barts and The London NHS Trusts, are live with the first phase of the Cerner Millennium system. In June 2008 the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust went live with the next phase Cerner Millennium which features a link to the NHS spine. The trust uses the system to manage patient admission, transfer and discharge details and is linked to accident and emergency, theatre scheduling, maternity, therapies, as well as electronic radiology and pathology test ordering and reporting.
	In October 2008, following a review of the progress of the deployment of the Cerner Millennium system an improvement programme was set up to concentrate on resolving the issues that were being experienced by the live trusts. At the Barts and The London NHS Trust some unresolved issues are being tackled as part of a wider comprehensive improvement programme that is addressing identified weaknesses in the trust's information management and administration systems. At the other three trusts improvement programmes have been substantially delivered.
	Due to the good progress made with the improvement programmes and greater confidence in the functionality and stability of the system, the London Acute Programme Board recommended in January 2009 that the implementation of Cerner Millennium should continue in London.
	In the south, eight health communities have to date gone live with the Cerner Millennium system. Each health community typically comprises an acute trust and the associated primary care trust sites in its area. The acute trusts are Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS trust; Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS trust; Weston Area Health NHS trust; Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation trust; Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS trust; Milton Keynes General Hospital NHS trust; Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS trust; and Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS trust.
	Since the local service provider contract with Fujitsu was terminated in May 2008, new arrangements to support and develop the services in the eight live sites in the south, together with agreement to deploy the Cerner product to a further four acute organisations have been agreed with BT. Under these arrangements, the eight live sites in the south will first be transferred to a BT data centre and then upgraded to the post- improvement programme configuration of the electronic patient record software that has been developed for London Cerner trusts. The transfer to the BT data centres and the subsequent upgrade of software is expected to be completed for the live sites by the end of 2010.
	Further planned Cerner Millennium implementations at trusts in both London and the south are being informed by the lessons learnt from the improvement programmes at the live sites, and will enable more localisation and tailoring of the system, as well as close working between clinicians and solution experts as the system is being built for each trust.

NHS: Information and Communications Technology

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many sites in the Southern cluster of the National Programme for IT are  (a) due to deploy and  (b) in the process of deploying (i) the RiO information system and (ii) Cerner Millennium under the management of BT;
	(2)  for how many  (a) trusts and  (b) sites in the Southern cluster of the National Programme for IT BT has now assumed responsibility.

Ben Bradshaw: In the southern programme for information technology, previously the southern cluster, the eight acute trusts that had previously installed Cerner Millennium under Fujitsu as local service provider are transferring to BT. In addition, four more acute trusts are planning to deploy the system, three of which are in the early stages of deployment. In all these deployments will cover 26 sites.
	Under the same arrangement, 22 community and mental health trusts are due to deploy the RiO system at 25 sites, including one trust which has already started work on deployment.